Solitary Mask

Chibi Tsuki

A/N: It came out pretty quick didn't it? I didn't expect that either.

Chapter 8

Mysterious Characters

Dismissed, the students began to file out of the room while chatting to their friends, passing the unmasked face. No one had been able to notice so far, fortunately. There was only a short distance left for her to reach the infirmary. The only problem with having such light-coloured hair was that it was noticeable especially in a society where the majority had dark-coloured hair except for the ones who had dyed their hair blond. Refraining herself from running Mikazuki bowed her head and left her eyes gazing at the tiled floor. "Excuse me! I'm in a hurry! Excuse me! Coming through!" a voice shouted accompanied by heavy footsteps. Everyone hurried to move out of the way, and unfortunately the ones closer to the middle were pushed aside. She hadn't being able escape from the pushing fast enough and was in fact trapped between a pair of hands, a body and a wall. Her startled blue eyes stared at the brown ones in front of her, both were shocked, but only one was able to make a move. Mikazuki ducked under the teenager's right arm and darted off, not daring to look backwards. What an idiot I was, just standing there! I'm sure he knew who I was. She crept back into the infirmary to collect her mask, and her bag. As she stepped into the smaller room her mouth hung agape and her arms felt slightly heavy. Napping ever-so cutely was Kurama, with his hand propped up on the arm of the sofa, supporting his head while his long red hair fell around him. He looked so calm and charming; something she had never seen in a male even though she had spent her an entire childhood surrounded by them.

She picked up her mask and fixed it back onto her face; it felt much better with it on, but because of the earlier incident there may not be much use of it anymore. Slowly she made her way towards Kurama and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him awake gently. His closed eyelids flickered open while his body stretched out in different directions. "You're waking at last sleepyhead," the girl murmured and stepped back from him. Kurama smiled kindly at her, still looking much asleep.

"You look much better now."

In response, Mikazuki merely nodded. "Let's go home, the rain has stopped."

"I can't, I've got to conduct experiments at the lab today," he replied as he stood up and gathered his belongings.

"Is it for the biology assignment?"

"No, it's for some contest the teacher suggested that I join, perhaps not for the award but for the experience."

"There won't be any problems then. I'll see you on Monday." She took a few steps to the door but stopped and turned around. "Thank you for taking me here." Before Kurama had the time to reply she was already out of the room and on the way home. There would be plenty of time to explain it to her later but the question is, should he tell her?

~*~*~*~

She walked out of the school gate, a cheerful smile plastered on her face, having forgotten about the earlier incident. Instead there was something else occupying her mind; rain. There was sure to be more rain within several days and today she felt lively enough to work at the cafeteria. It must've been disappointing for her not to show up so many times for work, and without a call. It was already Friday and it meant that she had missed four days of school and work. School didn't matter as much as work as she needed the money to support herself, since the only money she had received when she went to the Ningenkai was the money her leader gave her; enough money to last school fees and mortgage until the time came. What was her reason of being sent here anyway? None officially stated. He had sent her there two years ago with faked human certificates, birth certificates, a large sum of money and an order to train for twenty hours at least once a week which she did at her favourite cliff by the sea. Maybe her reason for being here was to watch over the actions of the Rekai Tantei and the situation in Ningenkai as he often did ask whether there were anything suspicious once in a while.

~*~*~*~

Mikazuki sighed, cupping the mug of lukewarm chocolate drink with both hands, for warmth. The cafeteria had gone quiet by the time it was nine and the store was closing at ten-thirty. As her punishment for not appearing at the store for the past four nights, Emi had Mikazuki staying until the minute they closed, which meant she would work for another one and a half hour every night for a fortnight. At the current moment, the problem disturbing her the most was her mask. She had been told to disguise herself to avoid getting attached to anyone, but it was already too late. She had succeeded for two years, until Kurama came and let her realise friendship could be between anyone, anyone and everyone in the world. But it couldn't be, he was a kitsune; a thieving, lying kitsune. He couldn't have changed within seventeen years of living in Ningenkai, could he? You said that he was a true friend. She recalled her conversation with him when she had agreed to receiving his request to be her friend. No it wasn't a request or anything like that, but instead he had offered it to her and she had accepted it, not knowing what it was really about. "To tell you the truth, the only thing about you that I can say positively about is that you're a true friend. The rest of it, I'm still unsure." I really didn't know what friendship was at that time until he said those words about me being not different to the others even though he didn't know that I was a youkai. She smiled to herself and stirred the liquid semi-consciously. Friendship is such a beautiful thing.

'But are you sure he is trustworthy?' a voice asked mentally, breaking through her mind shield without the least bit of difficulty.

Mikazuki gasped and turned to her left, staring at the person beside her unbelievably. Sudden, unexpected tears blurred her vision, wetting her cheeks. She hugged the person while her tears continued to flow freely. Neither said a word, knowing how the other felt after having not seen one another for two years. Perhaps it wasn't a long time but it felt like it was. The person smiled caringly, blue eyes smiling with hidden joy. "Why don't you care more for your body Mika?" the person questioned, using his special nickname for her while he wiped away the tears with his fingers.

"How did you know?" Mikazuki murmured in a soft voice, afraid of bursting into tears for no reason once again.

"I saw you at the infirmary. You went back didn't you?" She nodded, gazing into his eyes with a small smile. "Don't cry anymore, I haven't seen you cry since the time you were four."

"I remember, you had gotten speared and fainted." Letting him kiss her softly on her forehead, giving her warm feeling which ran through her veins, heating her entire body like a heater. Although we may not be blood-related, you're the best brother I'll ever have. She didn't notice the smile appearing on his face which came rather quickly. Slowly reverting back into her normal self, Mikazuki sipped her drink and changed the subject. "Why are you here? I thought that there were five more months until the time came for me to return."

"There's a change. In one month you must return to Makai, no later and if you possibly can, sooner. We have need of you. The rest I will say when we go back to your home. I have another mission right now so I'll see you in two days when the moon awakes, and remember, there will be a time when the kitsune becomes our enemy," he said no more afterwards. She smiled, waiting for him to leave the cafeteria before finishing off her drink in one gulp. Will Shuichi really become Kurama; our enemy?

~*~*~*~

"Mika, is that charming gentleman your boyfriend?" Emi asked as they cleaned up the cups to finish the night's work.

Beside her Mikazuki giggled and shook her head gently. "You can call him a really close friend. I've known him for a long time now."

"He's good-looking, has a good body, compassionate and you call him a close friend only. If I were you I'd ask him to be my boyfriend," Emi admitted, nudging her friend with a cheeky grin while attempting to wipe a mug.

Mikazuki shook her head again and responded in a truthful voice, "I love him more than anything, even more than a brother and a lover. A love so deep that can never be replaced. It's not romance that I see in him, but I see his soul as part of mine; as if we were bonded like some twins are." Her chuckles caught Emi's gaze. "In fact I don't know what romantic love is, I only know the love for a brother and love for objects, but I don't know anything else." Wide-eyed, the older woman stared at her in shock.

"You're seventeen and yet you don't know what romance is?"

"The world's not going to end if you don't find love, and I never learnt what romance is. I've finished cleaning and it's about time I went home. See you on Monday night!" Quickly Mikazuki hung her apron on the hangers and ran out of the kitchen, leaving Emi to finish the mug she had been drying for nearly five minutes.

~*~*~*~

"It's so strange," Kurama mumbled to himself as he sat at the desk closest to his working bench, "Mikazuki barely seemed to be alive this morning but by the afternoon she looked as if she'd recovered within a few hours, and who was that guy? He seems to be really close to Mikazuki but she's never mentioned about having a friend going to this school. Although he was wearing the school uniform and he looks to be eighteen or nineteen, something doesn't look right. That may be her privacy but somehow it doesn't feel right." He frowned and glanced at his plants, observing their actions as he fed them some of his own energy. Now everything doesn't seem right, not even Mikazuki's strange behaviour and background. "Why am I thinking so much when I supposed to be working?" Empty; his pad was empty of his writing. For half an hour he had been pondering about problems that were definitely not related to biology study. There were supposed to be at least four pages of notes on his pad, not a pad naked of figures, observations and most importantly his experiments. Instantly he stood up and walked to his bench and dipped his finger into the soil sample, feeling the hard sand mixed with tiny organisms.

"Shuichi, can I have a word with you?" a quiet tenth grader asked as his stepped into the laboratory, his slightly rigid posture suggesting his personality. "That is if you have a spare minute."

The red-haired teenager smiled and walked over towards him. "May I ask for your name first?" he enquired politely.

"My name is Iz… Izumi Shingo, I'm a lower year. I just wanted to ask you about… Tsukishiro Mikazuki. I know that what I said and will say is straightforward, I hope you don't mind." Throughout his words Shingo kept avoiding eye contact, only once did he dare to look at Kurama's emerald green eyes but only for a flash.

"I don't mind, not at all." Kurama gestured at the chairs, feeling that the boy may be more comfortable to talk if they sat down.

"I went to Mi… Tsukishiro's junior high school and then I was able to enrol into the same senior school as her. I know that she has been the way she is now since the first day I saw her. I've actually seen you two together several times, although I'm sure many haven't. Have you seen her face before?"

Letting a moment pass before he answered, Kurama smiled. "To say that I haven't is a lie."

"Is she pretty?" Shingo seemed to relax when he admitted that he had seen Mikazuki's appearance, even his voice seemed to be full of hope.

"Not elegant, not dignified, but quite pretty." His brown eyes sparkled at Kurama's words, and immediately he rummaged through his bag, pulling out his pencil tin, books, followed by a sketch pad. He flipped through the sketch pad until he found a particular page and showed it the Kurama who slowly accepted the sketch pad. The drawing was rough and sketchy, drawn with a dark 4B lead, most likely mechanical pencil. Large eyes conveyed the startled expression while her long hair framed her face. The artist being Shingo had taken a lot of effort to emphasize her eyes and much less effort on the scar which trailed along the cheekbone, vanishing behind the eye. On the bottom of the page there was another drawing with the same subject and this time the expressions were much more peaceful and quiet.

"That's her right?" Shingo interrupted happily, oblivious that Kurama was still studying the work. Kurama confirmed his question and returned the pad back to its owner. "Do you think you can introduce her to me? I really want to meet her, please?" When he saw Kurama's hesitation he supplemented his plea. "It'll be easier if you introduce me. She gives me inspiration to my sketches."

The boy was telling the truth, for he didn't seem to be one who could lie very well. "Come find me on Monday in this lab at the beginning of lunch, if I'm here it means that she's wanting to see you," he responded and left the desk to resume his work. Thanking him, Shingo disappeared around the corner of the wall. The impact of his shoes hitting against the ground was easily picked up by Kurama's keen senses. To this point he still wasn't absolutely positive whether the boy was totally honest with him or not.

~*~*~*~

Another weekend spent on investigating the possible enemy had led to nothing. They hadn't found any clues so far and yet they were still investigating. Yuusuke had suggested that they let Botan gather them while they relaxed a bit since it was them doing all the fighting, and Kuwabara had heartily agreed to that but Kurama advised against that. It would be smarter if they prepared for a peril that may lie ahead of them. Genkai had sided with Kurama and instinctively, Botan too followed Kurama decision since she didn't want to take on the burden of being the one to find all the information.

~*~*~*~

Monday morning came quite quickly with classes waiting to start at eight-thirty. There was still plenty of time until then so Kurama had decided to wait for Mikazuki at the end of the street. That meant that they could walk to school together and have company until they reached the school gates. He had been there for nearly ten minutes now and still there was no sign of her. A shower of rain started which indicated that the need for the umbrella was necessary. Kurama coaxed the umbrella out of its pouch and opened it, sheltering himself from getting his clothes damp and wet.

Suddenly a bicycle came flying out of nowhere, the rider wearing a dark blue suit, a contrast from his fiery orange hair which ended just below his suit collar. He wore a pair of black sunglasses, which were incapable of hiding his hazel-brown eyes. What startled Kurama the most was the passenger he had, hugging onto his waist, giggling under the rain as she became saturated while the rain poured heavier. Although she was facing the other way, sitting side-on on the bicycle, he recognised her as Mikazuki. This is getting stranger and stranger, day by day. Who are all these mysterious characters and how were they linked to her? Before he was able to call out her name, the bicycle had already disappeared, zooming down the street precariously. He glanced at his watch and clenched his teeth together; he wasn't going to be late no matter what.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kurama arrived several minutes before class started; entering the classroom once he'd brushed the unwanted drops of water off his blazer jacket. He took a seat by his friends, greeting them with the everyday respect. Jobi tilted his head to look at Kurama and uttered, "We have a casual teacher today. Nikarayagi-sensei's on sick leave. I doubt that she'd be back until next week."

"Good morning class," a sudden alto voice uttered, calling everyone to his attention. "Your usual computer teacher is away and I'll be taking her place until she returns. My name is Kanari Hiketsu. Please call me Kanari-sensei." The teacher had come in so silently that no one had sensed him approach or even enter the room, only Kurama who was a high level youkai and that was expected of him. How strange, this man was the one who rode the bicycle to school, with Mikazuki. To think that he knew Mikazuki well, then from out of nowhere, there are more and more people surrounding her, barricading him from her. From where he was sitting, Kurama could clearly see his carefree expression, the broad grin and a sort of wildness in him, much unlike the blue-haired man he saw at the infirmary. All Kurama found in him was emptiness and coldness. Kanari-sensei can't be her brother, could he be a cousin? Flashbacks of the earlier incident ran unexpectedly through his mind. Could he be her boyfriend…? But he looks to be at the age of twenty-three, how can he be? This is 'so' confusing!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: This is a long chapter. I never expected to make it this long, I even had to tell myself to finish the chapter off here before I continued to go on. Our favourite kitsune getting frustrate; very cute. I hope you like reading this chapter as much as I did writing.

Who are these mysterious characters who pop out of nowhere? Perhaps I'll let Kurama know sometime. =) See-yas!